This is a four-minute short called Panic Attack from Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez, reportedly made for just a few hundred dollars. He was supposedly getting calls from Hollywood producers the same day he posted it, and now he has a deal with Sam Raimi’s production company.

The deal, in the six- against seven-figure range, will see Ghost House hire a writer for the project, which is based on an idea by Alvarez. [THR via Collider]

People are comparing the deal to the arrangement Peter Jackson had to produce Neill Blomkamp’s District 9. As for the short film that inspired the deal, there’s really not much to it. Some giant robots attack Montevideo (that’s the capital of Uruguay, genius), and that’s pretty much it, though the visuals are impressive. It kind of looks like if Michael Bay and JJ Abrams had a butt baby who grew up in Uruguay, and it definitely seems like it cost more than a few hundred dollars. With seven figures, I expect a few more crotch shots and the finest record scratches money can buy.

you know how i know Uruguay? ’cause you hosted the first ever FIFA world cup in 1930 BOOOOOOSH

11.30.09 at 12:55 pm

Patty Boots

It’s funny how Blomkamp and Alvarez can make cool sci-fi for relatively little, while James Cameron has more money than god and Avatar still looks like glorified furry art.

11.30.09 at 1:05 pm

Morton Salt

Livin’ La Vida Robot.

11.30.09 at 1:05 pm

Fek'lhr

Patty-Yeah, not only that, it’s hard to tell who the “Friendlies” are in avatar…they all look like they want to hate-yiff someone.

11.30.09 at 1:10 pm

Morton Salt

Fek -Don’t be an ass! Avatar takes place both A.) In the future, and 2.)Is fake. Tiger’ish would get pissed with you. It is that kind of ignorance that keeps friendlies (Unicorns, Bicorns, Leprechauns, Centaurs (pre-their WWII extinction) and Asian Dragons largely in hiding.
Seriously, for a while I thought he was doing all this as an awesome act, but I grimly realized as the year went on that he was entirely serious.

11.30.09 at 1:11 pm

Oski

Alternate title: El Capitan del Cielo y el Mundo de Manana

11.30.09 at 1:13 pm

DeFrank

what was the point of the first few rounds of missiles when they were just going to blow the whole place up anyway?